Ask God to give the missionary team wisdom and direction as new opportunities for ministry become apparent as we partner with our Japanese leaders in establishing new works.

Pray the gospel message will be received, and people will come to know Christ as a result of the recent earthquake and tsunami. Pray also for those who are endeavoring to help the hurting, displaced and suffering people. The recovery efforts will continue for many years.

Pray for our national pastors and leaders as they carry on and expand the work of the Lord in their local areas.

Pray for a strengthening of the Japanese church as Christians endeavor to reach their own people.

Pray for our boys they are having a hard time adjusting to all the travel and no place to call home. Barrett is most comfortable in Arkansas but we aren’t there often anymore, both boys have trouble going to nap and bed, they both used to be really good at just laying down and sleeping. PThe car is no fun for them and many times its just a lot of crying. Pray for peace.

Pray for our funds to come in quickly, we have about 7 weeks till our September goal to be fully funded. We are at about 67%.

Pray for our families as they try to adjust to us leaving.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to be working in the lives of the Japanese we will come in contact with while we are there.

Pray for Caroline as she transitions to the states for entrance into college life at WELCH College from August 16.

Pray for the upcoming stateside assignment for Ruth and Donnie from July 2018. Pray that they will be able to complete all the visa requirement paperwork and other needed documents to leave Japan for the year long stateside assignment by July. Pray that current contacts and friendships can stay connected to the Good News Chapel during the upcoming stateside transition time for Good News Chapel.

Pray for the financing of the proposed church property and renovation needs for the Good News Chapel building.

Praise for the May 2018 decision of the Good News Chapel to purchase property for the church.

Pray for our family as we get settled, and for us to lay a good foundation for our first term.

Pray for Miriam as she goes to language school. Praise that she has is a fourth of the way done!

Pray for our kids as they go to school (Oliver 2nd grade, Scarlet K4, Hazel Pre-K) and for us to build good relationships with the other school families.

Pray that we would truly love the Japanese, and that we would open both our hearts and home to them.

Pray that we will be a light to all the new people we will meet as we live and work here.

Pray for the health of all the Japanese pastors and their wives.

Pray for Doug as he preaches twice a month.

Pray for the college outreach that is held by a Japanese pastor. Pray for us as we assist him.

We will be attending the Taihei Chapel FWB church and Salt of the Earth FWB church once a month as a simple way for them to invite people who may be interested in English to church. Please pray that this will provide good connections for the church.

Pray for the Lord to work through ETEAM and through our college Summer Overseas Apprentice program.

Pray for our partners in Central Asia as they labor daily to share the gospel in a predominantly Muslim environment.

Pray for safety of travel, crossing of borders, and the granting of permissions that are needed in working in various countries.

Pray for our international students in KZ, CUBA, RUSSIA, Tajikistan, and South Korea, as they each have their own ministries planting churches, reaching the unreached and offering the hope of the gospel hundreds of towns and villages.

Praising God for the 3 New Playgrounds to be a part of building HOPE in Central Asia’s unreached communities!

Pray for our MINISTRY ACCOUNT! Pray that God will move on the hearts of people to give to the work of the ministry! We need $2500 in new pledges by December 31!

Pray for the Outlaw kids – Carson, Tori, Conner, Schaeffer, and Libby that God will continue to use their cross cultural experiences to prepare them for the role He has for them in the Great Commission.

Pray for the spiritual growth and maturity of the members of the St Sebastien Church. Ask God to give them love for one another that others will know they are Christians by their love.

Pray that God will give wisdom and direction as we begin a new ministry to youth and young adults in France. Pray that He will prepare the hearts of those young people with whom we will come in contact.

Pray for us as we lead the Kamifukuoka Church as the pastor. Pray that we would lead effectively and that we would see people come to Christ and lives changed and that Christ would be glorified in our work here.

Pray for the one-on-one Bible studies we are doing with some non-believers and one on one discipleship studies we are doing with 2 new Christians.

Pray for Hope Alive, our English Bible study that takes place every other Saturday night. We have a good group of 4 or 5 non believers who have been coming for over a year and learning about God and His Word. Pray that they will come to Christ and the group will continue to grow.

Pray for our English Classes, English discussion cafe, Mom’s and Babies English class, and Japanese Language class where we have many relationships and chances to share about Christ and invite these people to our churches and Bible Studies. Pray that we will be bold to share Christ!

Pray for a continued ability to speak Japanese

Pray for Eli, Micah, and Emma as they are in kindergarten and Pre-K at a Billingual school that God will give them strength to survive in a difficult environment. Pray also that we can be an effective witness to the teachers and parents at their school.

Courses. Please pray for safety of travel as we head to Bangkok, Thailand for a special trainer development course (TDC) October 13-21, 2017. There are representatives from different regions of the world who are gathering to receive trainer training to take back to their regions–from two African nations, China, Vietnam, Philippines, Mexico, India, Australia, UK, and USA.

Also, November 2-18, 2017 we will hold our last full Leadership Matters Course outside Orlando, Florida, USA, hosted by Wycliffe USA. This is an unusual location for ITA. We seldom host training events in the USA.

Travels. Please pray for safety of travel in the second half of 2017. In July we’ll be in Spain visiting family and friends. In August we go to Peru for the second complete Leadership Matters Course in Spanish. In October we head to Malaysia to visit colleagues/friends from ITA. From there we travel to Bangkok, Thailand for a trainer development course. In November we have our last Leadership Matters Course of the year close to Orlando, Florida.

Fundraising. During April and May 2017 we will be visiting several churches presenting our ministry with ITA and our need for monthly support. Please pray for God’s grace and favor for these events.

2017 World Missions Offering (WMO). Please pray that God’s people will respond to the 2017 World Missions Offering for IM–workers and works around the world benefit from this annual offering. WMO Sunday is April 29, 2017.

ITA Council Meets. The International Training Alliance Council and Executive Team meets in Indianapolis, USA March 20-24, 2017. Members are coming from Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, Canada and the United States. Please pray for an initial two days for a summit of six people, two days of the full Council, and then one day of wrap up for the ITA Executive Team.

Funding for Jeff and Susan. Once again Jeff and Susan are seeking prayer and financial supporters! They were supported faithfully by many supporters for 30 years as church planters in Madrid, Spain. At the request of FWBIM leadership, they left Spain to serve in administration of the Mission for many years. At the age of 60 God gave them a new ministry serving as CEO of the International Training Alliance. It is tough to build a support base from zero at age 60, but it is necessary in order to fulfill the ministry opportunities the Lord has opened for them on a more global level. (See “Transitions” below.)

Transitions. Jeff and Susan served as missionaries to Spain for 30 years. They returned to the States to serve in the Mission Administration. In 2015, the Board of International Missions voted unanimously to second them to the Board’s partner agency, the International Training Alliance, to serve as this agency’s CEO. At the same time, Jeff and Susan will serve as regional directors for FWBIM missionaries in Europe. Jeff also serves as the Candidate Shepherd for FWBIM, working with all new missionary candidates desiring to serve with FWBIM. As you can imagine, there is a lot of responsibility between these different roles.

Leadership Matters Course in Peru. Please pray for the first complete LMC in Spanish ever that will take place outside Lima, Peru May 3-23, 2016. Jeff will serve as lead trainer. Susan will lead the relationships track

Funding for ITA. ITA was legally incorporated as a 501c3 in the United States in November of 2015, and is seeking funding for its ministry. In its twenty years of existence, ITA has never been legally incorporated. This is a big step. With the transition in leadership, the ITA Council decided to incorporate in the United States and in Australia in order to create a sustainable model for the future. It is expanding to offer its training in French, Spanish and Manderin Chinese. ITA continues to receive more requests for courses than it can fulfill each year. This speaks to the credibility and usefulness of this unique training after 20 years in existence. Please pray for the ministry of ITA.

Pray that in our own personal lives we would be fervently devoted to growing in God’s word and to prayer for what He is doing here in Bulgaria.

Pray for our family to see steady progress in our language study.

Pray for several formal and informal English teaching opportunities we are pursuing as a means of outreach.

Pray that God would connect us to people in Pleven who are waiting to hear about him—including many members of society who are often neglected

As we “lay foundations” for a new church, pray that God would give us wisdom regarding which steps we would take, the timing in which things should take place, and which opportunities for outreach we should pursue.

Pray for growth in our relationships with people in our community and for opportunities to share love and truth in these relationships.

Please pray for our family and our team as we continue to mourn the death of our dear friend and teammate, Radostin Tsvetkov. Especially pray for his mother as she grieves.

Praise God that on July 13th, we closed on a house in Shumen! After renovation, this house will be an ideal home for our family and meeting place for a house church. Please pray for us as we work with an architect, city officials, and builders to get the house ready to live in.

Please pray for us as we begin learning the Turkish language. While most Turks in Bulgaria speak Bulgarian, learning Turkish will be a critical part of planting churches among this unreached people group.

Please pray for the group in Butovo. The group continues to meet every week. Josh will travel to Butovo (about 2.5 hours) once a month, in order to encourage the group and lead them in Communion.

Please pray for us as we apply for another year of residency in Bulgaria. Our residency is currently good until August 30th.

Please pray for your church-planting team in Bulgaria. Trif and Vanya Trifonov have started a new church in the city of Varna. Jonathan and Amy Postlewaite are working to start a new church in the city of Pleven. And Tim and Lydia Awtrey, who are leading the church in Svishtov.

Most importantly, please pray that the Holy Spirit would do a mighty work in the nation of Bulgaria. Among the Turks only 1/10,000 know Jesus. Please pray that the Lord would go before us, softening hard hearts so that they will be eager to hear the good news of salvation.

Pray for our discussion groups as we talk about God with young adults. That they may see the truth and understand the Gospel.

Pray for the JPense evangelism events and discussion groups, that they will bring much fruit.

Please pray for our impact project. We are in need of donations to support our new ministry. We need to get equipped to be able to have services and outreach events more often. Pray that we will meet our financial need so we will have the resources to carry out our ministry among the young adults. You can give online here : https://fwbgo.com/give/ under Impact JPense and you can send in checks to the FWBIM (memo: Impact JPense).

Pray for the new converts through our ministry that they will stand strong and be witnesses to their friends and families

*July 2018: PRAISING GOD for the salvation of Mr. “N” #1, a dear friend in his eighties, who accepted Christ this week! Prayers for his salvation have been lifted for close to thirty years, and we now rejoice that he is a Christ-follower! Please pray for his recovery from recent cancer surgery. Also please continue to pray for our two weekly Mommy and Me Classes, where we work with twenty unsaved moms and their toddlers in our church outreach ministries to families in our neighborhood. Please continue to pray for Mr. “A” and Mr. “N” #2’s salvation.

*January 2018: THANK YOU for praying for our many Christmas Outreach programs! Several unsaved attended each meeting. Please continue to pray for Mr. “A”, Mr. “N” #1, and Mr. “N” #2; the two older men attended our Christmas and New Year’s programs and are attending our weekly Bible studies. Mr. “N” #2 has dropped out of attending with his wife and young son, something he was doing once a month in a commitment he made when Ken held a dedication service for their son in 2015. Please pray that through the witness of his wife and her Christian family that he will be burdened to accept Christ! Pray also for the Mommy & Me moms (16 young moms, 14 nonbelievers) who don’t know Christ. Pray for our witness to them and to their children.

*March 2017: PRAISING GOD! Many of you have been praying with us for Mr. “A”, an older man who has been attending weekly Bible studies at Kamifukuoka Christ Church for the last two years. Although he is not yet a believer, this morning at Bible Study, he gave thanks to God! His wife was recently diagnosed with cancer, and yesterday their physician informed them that the situation wasn’t as bleak as they were previously told. Mr.”A” said he feels God answered the prayers of our church believers who have been praying! THANK YOU for praying and for being a part of this prayer ministry!

*January 2017: We had a great Christmas season at Kamifukuoka Christ Church with several special outreach programs, and many unsaved attending each event. Pray for each one who came and heard the Gospel! Our weekly Mommy and Me class has grown to eleven toddlers and eleven moms. Nine of the moms are not believers; pray for our witness and their salvation! Weekly Bible studies continue with a group at our church and also in Judy’s English/Bible class at Iriso Christ Church – both classes attended by unsaved; pray for salvation! Our Sunday afternoon Kids’ Club also continues with unsaved families involved in each class. We appreciate your prayers for the lost in Japan!

*We will be having special CHRISTMAS OUTREACH PROGRAMS at Kamifukuoka Christ Church in December 2016. Our Children’s Christmas Party will be held on Saturday morning, December 24th. Some of the moms and toddlers from the Mommy and Me class Judy leads on Wednesdays have indicated they’ll be attending, along with some neighborhood friends of church members. On Christmas Sunday, our Family Christmas will be held in the evening from 5 – 7 p.m. at our church. Some of our former Kids’ Club members, along with their moms, are planning to attend, along with other friends from the neighborhood. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will work in lives of those attending!

*November 2016: We’re thankful to be back home in Japan! We have moved into a house, secured a small car and have reestablished many of our former friendships with people in our church neighborhood. Pray for us as we begin working again at Kamifukuoka Christ Church, the church we began in 2007 along with the Nomura family. This week Judy will begin teaching a weekly Mommy and Me class at the church, and resumes her weekly English/Bible classes at Iriso Christ Church. Saturday we will be participating in “Hope Alive” – a bimonthly English worship service started by the Crowe and Hubbard families. Ken will also be preaching on Sunday, and we’ll be teaching the Kids’ Club children, along with Sunday School class. In addition, we’ll be meeting with a few of our families who are not currently attending church. We appreciate your prayers! God is good!

*September 2016: We are traveling from Seattle, WA, this week to speak in five CA churches and two chapel services at California Christian College. We will be leaving for Japan on September 27th, arriving September 28th, and we ask for your prayers as we try to quickly find a house and a car.

*MAY 2016: Our time as Hillsdale College (now known as “Randall University”) Missionaries in Residence has come to a close, and we are in the process of relocating to our home state of MO to continue traveling to raise our Mission support. We have logged over 35,000 miles since last July, and anticipate many more miles as we travel around the State, sharing our burden for the lost in Japan and trying to gather new faith promise support. If your church would like to become one of our Japan Ministry partners, please contact us, and continue to pray!

*March 2016: Please pray for the family of Mrs. Mitsue Kazama, a long time member of Iriso FWB Church and later Good News Chapel in Japan. Mr. and Mrs. Kazama were led to the Lord by missionary Fred Hersey in the seventies, and later worked with the Tokyo Team to establish Good News Chapel. Please pray for their three unsaved adult children and spouses, and for their eight grandchildren to remember her faith in the Lord, and for Mr. Tetsuya Kazama as he faces this next journey without his beloved wife.

* February 2016: Please pray for us as we continue our second semester as Missionaries in Residence at Hillsdale FWB College in Moore, OK. Our one year Home Assignment is quickly drawing to a close, and our plan is to return home to Japan in early July of this year. Please pray for safety as we travel each weekend to our home state of MO to speak in churches. Our Mission Board voted in December to return to the “Designated Plan of Giving.” This means we are responsible to raise 100% of our needed funds to return to Japan to continue our ministries there. THANK YOU to those who are giving to the Bailey account! If you are not currently supporting a missionary, please pray about becoming a ministry partner with us!

Pray for the leadership of the churches in Brazil, that there would be unity and a resolve to work together.

Pray for the seminary (Bible Institute) as we continue training leaders for the local churches in Brazil.

Pray for K, a lady sent out by the FWB churches in Campinas, Brazil, who serves as a worker with Syrian refugees in a middle eastern country.

Pray for Clóvis and Cristina Leandro of the Nova América FWB Church in Campinas who are serving as church planters in Boa Esperança, state of Alagoas, Brazil. They work in a town with no other evangelical Christian presence and minister to a very poor population. There are no other FWB churches in this part of the country.

Pray for the FWB hospital in Doropo, Côte d’Ivoire, Africa. They are hoping to receive a FWB doctor from Cuba. Pray that the necessary legal requirements might be met.

Pray for the church-planting project in Ghana being led by Pastor Thomas Appiah under the supervision of the mission’s committee in Ivory Coast. IM partner’s with our African brothers in this project.

Pray for pastor Yosvanys, his wife Anita, and their two children as they prepare to move from Cuba to Uruguay to revitalize a church in Montevideo.

Pray for the Seminary in Panama as they seek accreditation from the Panamanian government. It is a long process.

India is a country of 1.3 billion people. There are still 715 people groups (ethnic groups) that have not been engaged with the preaching of the gospel. Pray that the Lord would lead us to one or more of these groups.

We are currently working in Eastern Hokkaido. Our children attend Japanese schools in the area. Linda teaches English part time at two elementary schools. Pray for our children, and pray that they will be lights in these schools.

To my knowledge, none of the approximately 20 English students that are in our outreach classes taught at the Abashiri church are Christian. We are teaching four classes there: kindergarten, two elementary and one adult class. Many mothers also attend the childrens’ classes. Most have never heard the gospel story. These are classes that have only started recently. Pray that through these many would come to know Christ.

We are prayerfully looking at the many cities and towns around Abashiri and Bihoro that do not have any gospel preaching church (of any kind). Pray for God’s direction as we seek to reach these new areas.

Pray God will supply the financial needs of the Snows. Japan is an extremely expensive country in which to minister

Pray for Michelle Chereau, a woman in the church, as she begins the new convert studies with Hillel. Hillel’s baptism has been scheduled for February 11.

The Young Families Group met Monday night. There were 9 there and we had a good lesson and time of discussion. We will be meeting next month to finish the lesson that Robert started. Continue to pray for these young couples as they have a desire to serve God.

This Saturday night, January 27, is Soirée JPense. Please pray for the preparation of the event. Pray also that many non-believers will attend and have open minds and hearts. We also welcome a new member to our mission team, Joel and Lydie Teague, announced the birth of their son Derek Joel. We are thankful for a healthy baby.

Starting Sunday, February 18, Robert will be preaching a three-week study on the objectives/purposes of the church to challenge the people to commit themselves to full participation in the ministry.

The two weekends of March 18 and 25, Dr. Doug Randlett, from Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA, will be teaching on leadership. We hope to have between 40 and 60 participants from the various churches. This is a major event to prepare the leaders in the St Sébastien church as they assume the responsibility of leading the congregation.

Please pray especially for these two training times. Pray that the people will accept their responsibility and get involved in the ministry of the church. And pray especially for the leaders that they will recognize both the gravity and the joy of being a leader of God’s people.

And please pray for Dennis Teague and Robert as they plan for those two weekends in March. They have an enormous amount of work to do to get ready — and we have only eight weeks to do it in!

They plan to send out invitations for the March training this week. Pray that the invitees will recognize the importance of the training and will be willing to sacrifice their plans for those two weekends.

On February 25, we’ll hold the annual church business meeting. Pray that we can get everything prepared and that this meeting will serve as the launching of renewed enthusiasm and commitment to the church.

It is exciting to see what the Lord is doing, yes, and sometimes more than a little stressful, too. Thank you for helping us as we seek to serve.

* Pray for the spiritual and numerical growth of the church in Châteaubriant. Presently meeting in a small rented room in the center of town the group desires to see others come to know Christ.

* Pray for our upcoming Christmas program to be held on December 8th. A number of family and friends have already pledged to come and we are praying they will hear the real meaning of Christ’s coming to earth.

* Pray for our personal encouragement in this new work. Developing a work in a smaller, rural setting has it’s challenges for this “city” couple from Detroit!

* Pray for our pesonal witness to many friends the Lord has brought into our lives that they may see the love of Christ in us.

* Pray for our children: Daniel, his wife Gwenäelle (both school teachers in France) and daugher Bleuenn; Brian, working as a language interpreter; Laura & Johanna, both students at Welch College in Nashville.

We are currently on stateside assignment. Pray that we would be able to raise our needed funds in time to return to Uruguay in early 2019.

Pray for men to step out in faith and answer the call to be a pastor. Three of our five FWB churches in Uruguay are without a Uruguayan pastor.

Pray for the people of Uruguay to see that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Only 6% of the country claim to be Christian.

Pray for Cuban couple Yosvany and Anita, who are waiting on final visa approval to be able to go to Uruguay to help revive the church in Malvin (Montevideo area). Pray their papers would be approved swiftly.

Please pray for our upcoming church retreat in September. Pray that many non-believers will attend and for God to touch the hearts of those that do not yet know Him at the retreat.

Praise God for more people stepping up in leadership roles at the church in Svishtov. Please pray for continued maturity and faithfulness as many are new believers.

Pray for the economic situation in Svishtov. Due to a lack of jobs many people are leaving town to find work elsewhere. We have already had several families leave the church because they are going elsewhere for employment.

Pray that we can make a breakthrough with reaching out to men in the community. Many women are attending church, but their husbands do not. Pray that we can find a way to reach out to me in Svishtov.

There are several individuals and families that want to attend church, but because of pressure from relatives they have stopped attending. Pray that God would give them the courage to choose Jesus over the opinions of family members.

Leadership – Please pray that God will raise up a faithful person to pastor the New Life Church in Svishtov and evangelists who will start new churches throughout northern Bulgaria.

Ask God to prepare the spiritual soil of the hearts of people in Svishtov. Pray words of hope and forgiveness will ring true.

for the kids who came to the Christmas party at church and heard the good news and got Christmas presents

the opportunity to go with Christmas Operation Child and share the gospel with fourth graders in a local school

Debbie’s roommate and her church back home who collected an offering and made it possible for her to come back home for Christmas!

the great Christmas and New Year services with many people, good messages and worship, and close fellowship

the new people who want to volunteer to do ministries in the church

the plans we’ve made for evangelistic events throughout the 2017 year

Please, pray for:

the continuing work of the Spirit in people’s lives so that they would give their hearts to Jesus, make wise decisions and be salt and light in their families and circle of friends.

the upcoming evangelistic events (Bread House, culinary evening, the Literature & history Club

the organization for the Easter evangelistic events for kids and adults both

our daughter Debbie and her studying at Welch College; for strength and energy as she both works and studies, and for her to feel God’s love and presence through new friends, being so far from her family.

our second daughter Monika who is preparing to apply to the university next year and our son Stefan who is in 8th grade; for God’s protection and joy for them both to be his missionaries in a very anti-Christian atmosphere at school.

Jonathan and Amy and their kids to be able to build bridges of trust with the local people in the city of Pleven and start a home Bible study group.

strength and wisdom for Josh & Lydia Provow as they continue the work in Svishtov and Butovo in the absence of the Awtreys.

Tim and Lydia Awtrey’s fundraising stateside; so far they have been able to raise one third of the funds necessary for the work.